Cornell University PhD candidate Hansadi Jayamah demonstrates the process for making their avian-inspired ultrablack dyed fabric. Ryan Young/Cornell University

A new fabric inspired by the feathers of the magnificent riflebird — a bird of paradise from New Guinea and the northern tip of Australia — is the darkest ever created, according to its inventors.

Made from white merino wool, the fabric is first dyed with polydopamine, a synthetic form of melanin, the natural pigment that gives color to skin, hair and eyes. It is then etched in a plasma chamber to create microscopic, spiky structures called “nanofibrils,” which trap light very effectively.

The result is a material that absorbs 99.87% of light: “I’ve had professors come in when we were working on this, and they went, ‘It’s lik

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